Near-perfect conditions for racing greeted competitors on Saturday night at Lebanon Valley. The result was a rather rough-and-tumble night on the high banks. However, that wasn’t necessarily so in every feature.
Kyle Armstrong has struggled with flat tires recently. The issues have plagued his season to the point that he ended up with the pole for the Modified feature. He took advantage of his good fortune.
Armstrong was able to open up a decent gap over the rest of the field. Andy Bachetti was able to quickly pass Rob Pitcher for second but could not keep pace with Armstrong. Further back, Brett Hearn was having some trouble moving forward from the 15th starting spot. While he eventually finished seventh, he would not be a factor on this evening.
As the race wound on, the brakes on Armstrong’s No. 11a began to fade. That allowed Bachetti to close the gap. Behind the two leaders, Pitcher and Brian Berger were fighting hard for third. The battle eventually went to Berger, but only because Pitcher was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue.
In the closing laps, Bachetti and Berger closed right up on Armstrong. Bachetti looked to the inside of the New Milford, Conn.-native multiple times, but simply could not get past as Armstrong held on for the win.
“Our car was really, really good tonight,” Armstrong said afterwards. “I was trying to take it easy [after the brakes started to fade], but then Andy [Bachetti] got to us. I knew it was time to pick the pace back up.”
Bachetti was second, followed by Berger. Kyle Sheldon finished fourth while Kolby Schroder was fifth.
Alarms of Berkshire County/DMC Racing Products Modified Feature Results (30 laps):
1) Kyle Armstrong,
2) Andy Bachetti,
3) Brian Berger,
4) Kyle Sheldon,
5) Kolby Schroder,
Small Block Modified Feature Results (24 laps):
1) Kenny Tremont Jr.,
2) J.R. Heffner,
3) Dillon Steuer,
4) Frank Harper,
5) Alan Houghtaling,
8) Andy Bachetti